Underplayed Gems

A Grin Without a Cat (1977)

A Grin Without a Cat poster
Original title
Le fond de l'air est rouge
Directed by
Chris Marker
Genre
documentary film
Country
France
Runtime
4h
Rated
U
Rating
7.9 of 10 from 26 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

This essay film examines political movements and conflicts of the 1960s and 1970s, focusing on the rise of the New Left in France and socialist efforts in Latin America. It reflects on the gap between revolutionary hopes and reality.

cerebralreflectivemelancholicpensivepoliticalfragmentarynostalgicthought-provoking

What happens

A Grin Without a Cat (French: Le fond de l'air est rouge) is a 1977 French essay film by Chris Marker. It focuses on global political turmoil in the 1960s and '70s, including the rise of the New Left in France and the development of socialist movements in Latin America. Using the image of Lewis Carroll's Cheshire Cat, the film's title evokes a dissonance between the promise of a global socialist revolution (the grin) and its actual nonexistence. The film's original French title means "The essence of the air is red", and has a subtext similar to the English title, implying that the socialist movement existed only in the air. The title is also a play on words: The original expression in French is "Le fond de l'air est frais", meaning "there is a chill/a nip in the air". Chris Marker replaced the last word, "frais" (fresh), with "rouge" (red), so the original title translates to At the bottom the air is red (communism/socialism). (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.